Kendrick Lamar on Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers: "I've never expressed myself the way I expressed myself on this album"

Back in May Lamar released his Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers album, and after revealing in October that he almost didn't release the album thinking it's "way too much", Lamar has explained in a new interview for The New York Times that he didn't even know he was expressing himself the way he wanted to when working on it.

"I've never expressed myself the way I expressed myself on this album," Lamar said. "From the moment I started picking up a pen and started freestyling. This was the moment that I was trying to get to without even knowing at the time."

Lamar also discussed his live show, saying the initial idea was "Hood Beethoven". He added, "Now incorporate that with dance and art, and you get this contextualized, theatrical type of performance. That's what it built into. Then you put it all in the platform, all on the deck. It feels like a theatrical hip-hop show, and not the corny [expletive]."